PD usually stands for PALLADIUM. So your ring might be silver with palladium or its silver coated with palladium. It's used as lower cost alternative to platinum or rhodium plating.
Palladium is a chemical element that is similar to platinum. A rare, silver-white precious metal, palladium has been commonly used for fine jewelry since the 1930s.
Palladium Is More Valuable than Gold & Silver
It also tops platinum when it comes to current market value. On average, prices for palladium rings today are around $2,000, according to Brides.com.
However, usually a ring stamped with Pd indicates that it is made of 95% Palladium or better. In the U.S., a jeweler has the choice to stamp a 95% Palladium ring with either Pd, Pall., or PD 950 but they all have the same meaning.
Palladium was first used in jewelry in 1939 to alloy platinum. Palladium is actually more rare than platinum and is found only in a few mines around the world. Though palladium has been used in jewelry production for decades, palladium wedding bands have become particularly popular over the past fifteen years.
The current price of palladium as of January 06, 2023 is $1,668.00 per ounce.
Gold has many uses and is thought to be the standard for precious metals, trading at $1,654 per ounce. Most investors overlook Palladium, which is even more valuable at $1,954 per ounce, respectively.
Gold and palladium are totally soluble in one another. The primary use of gold / palladium alloys is in jewellery. The alloy is more commonly known as white gold and is an alternative to platinum. Gold / nickel alloys are also used as white gold.
Palladium is an element with atomic symbol Pd, atomic number 46, and atomic weight 106.42. NCI Thesaurus (NCIt) Palladium is chemical element (nickel group element atom) with atomic number 46. It is a nickel group element atom, a platinum group metal atom and a metal allergen. ChEBI.
palladium (Pd), chemical element, the least dense and lowest-melting of the platinum metals of Groups 8–10 (VIIIb), Periods 5 and 6, of the periodic table, used especially as a catalyst (a substance that speeds up chemical reactions without changing their products) and in alloys.
Pd (notice the lowercase d) is a palladium mark.
What is palladium? It is a shiny white metal in the same group as platinum, along with ruthenium, rhodium, osmium, and iridium.
Palladium is the most expensive of the four major precious metals – gold, silver and platinum being the others.
Precious metal elements such as Ag, Au, Pt, and Pd are among the rarest elements in the crust (Goldschmidt, 1937), where it is most commonly found in high concentrations in areas of ore mineralization.
Palladium (Pd)
A silvery white precious metal under PGM (Platinum Group Metals) Refer from wikipedia. Palladium itself has been used as a precious metal in jewelry since 1939, as an alternative to platinum for making white gold.
Production & Deployment (PD) Phase. The Production and Deployment (PD) Phase is where a system that satisfies an operational capability is produced and deployed to an end-user. The phase has two major efforts; (1) Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) and (2) Full-Rate Production and Deployment (FRP&D).
Pt and Pd are usually non-magnetic metals that nearly satisfy the Stoner criterion29,30,31.
Palladium is a very rare metal and is slightly whiter in appearance than platinum and white gold.
Cons: Palladium is actually much more expensive than platinum weight for weight but due to the lower density less is required to produce the same item of jewellery; therefore a palladium wedding band or ring mount traditionally would cost less than its platinum counterpart.
Palladium alloys in general are high-temperature solder or brazing alloys that have low vapor pressures, excellent wetability, and minimum penetration into austenitic alloys. The alloy components are usually silver, copper, manganese, nickel, and/or chromium.
Use a Magnet
Palladium isn't magnetic. If the piece you have is a forgery, it may contain iron. This is because iron is an inexpensive metal that's relatively easy to mold and shape. If your piece contains any amount of iron, it will react to a magnet.
Palladium rings are extremely tarnish resistant. Palladium rings are comprised of 95% pure palladium which means they do not contain the metals that cause silver to tarnish. White gold needs to be treated with a process involving "re-rhodium" otherwise it will turn back to its yellow gold color every few years.
Platinum's melting point is also significantly higher than Silver, making it more durable. Palladium is also highly resistant to corrosion and scratching. It is one of the most durable Precious Metals on the market today, while also being soft and ductile.